Differences Between Climate and Weather
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Provided by: UCAR Center for Science Education|Published on: April 27, 2021
Lesson PlansScientist Reviewed
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Scientist Reviewed This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- In this lesson on weather and climate, students will create two graphs that show climate averages and weather data from the last month to understand the differences between climate and weather.
- The resource includes an article on weather and climate, a writing prompt, and extension activities.
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: UCAR Center for Science Education
Region: Global
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The resource provides helpful questions in the "Use of Evidence to Critique Claims" section that will help students think about the differences between climate and weather data.
- Students will get to work with real weather and climate data for the activity.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with graphing data.
- The instructions in the Preparation section are no longer current, but students can still access data using the Weather Channel website, Weather Underground, and the NOAA website.
Differentiation
- Students could perform the "Sense-making" activity as a skit and write a script for Gracie and Aaron to answer the questions.
- This lesson would be a good way to begin a unit on climate change. Students could discuss why it is important for scientists to collect climate data so that they can track changes in the climate.
- Other resources on this topic include this video on how to teach about weather and climate, this PBS video on why people confuse weather with climate, and this ClimateScience lesson on climate and weather.
Scientist Notes
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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